O'Mara and West are basically saying, "We've got this civil rights thing, George. Don't worry about it."
They are incorrect.
If I may?
The law is blind. However, the law was passed ignoring the reality of the populous of Florida. The act of Mr. Zimmerman hit on a very sensitive statistic. A statistic that is known both through fact and is palpable. Mr. Zimmerman acted without consider of the reality of his own status.
When the descriptor of his actions hit on an African American young man there was a reality ignored by the Florida legislator that translated into a very real nightmare. The Stand Your Ground law allowed Zimmerman to fire at will without regard to whom he was shooting or why. He as a beneficiary of the law to protect his rights and did not act prudently in realizing the imposition of that law on other's rights.
That is somewhat abstract, but, laws are sometimes lifted in the USA to provide for more liberal rights of citizens. More often than not when rights are lifted to enhance citizen rights there is also an understanding of the responsibility that accompanies those rights. In order to lift laws there has to be accompanying responsibility demonstrated to provide for the aspect of the law that protected others not benefiting from it. That is not a play on words, it is real.
That did not happen with Zimmerman. While the statistics of killings have increased in states with Stand Your Ground laws across the board, when the descriptor included African American it victimized a sensitive community that ALREADY experiences oppression due to gun violence. It is the responsibility of those receiving the benefits of freedom to act responsibility. "We don't need for you to do that." He unlawfully took the life of an African American man that was previously protected before the law passed.
Can average citizens be expected to be 'mindful' of all the paradigms of more liberal laws? That is a question no one has answered yet. The African American community does not need more policing by oppressive standards. The Stand Your Ground Law is wrong, dangerous, proven to be dangerous and increases the incidence of the danger to the community. Why? Because the statistical increase is ABSOLUTE. The statistical increase is death. The statistical increase enhances the descriptor the community is still suffering under.
The Zimmerman Case is proof of the Stand Your Ground Law and the permission it gives to aggrieve a community in the USA. Was that the design of the law? Was that completely malpractice of the Florida legislature? Were the actions of the law allowed to turn lose protections to prejudice and hate?
I apologize if any of my language causes bad feelings in anyway, but, it is my language and the way I use it in this context and other venues. My choice of words is not made to inflict pain or ill will.